CPC technology class · F02

F02D - Controlling Combustion Engines

Controlling combustion engines. 16,949 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

Compiled by PlainPatent · May 15, 2026

16,949
US patents granted: #1/9
in F02: 23.1%
F02 class share: -28%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Controlling Combustion Engines ranks #111 of 670 CPC technology areas - 16,949 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 28% over five years.

#111
of 670 CPC technology areas: 16,949
US patents granted, 2015–2025: Ford Global
leading assignee (2,221): -28%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How F02D's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, F02D recorded 6,537 grants versus 9,060 in 2015–2019 (-28% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 1,928 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 753 (+156% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Ford Global Technologies, LLC holds 13.1% of the class ; the top three share 27.7%.

Leaderboard read

F02D concentration, lead at 13.1%

Ford Global Technologies, LLC leads this historical grant record at 13.1% of F02D - foreign corporation assignees hold 62% of class grants (9,059 of 14,564). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share: 13.1%
Top three share: 27.7%
Lead over #2: 496

Where F02D sits inside F02

Among 9 subclasses in F02 (Combustion ENGINES; Hot-gas OR Combustion-product Engine Plants), F02D ranks #1 and holds 23.1% of the parent class's 73,441 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

F02C 16,237 F02M 13,937 F02B 11,001 F02K 5,533 F02N 3,467 F02P 2,762 F02F 2,743 F02G 812

Rising assignees active in F02D

Company-wide grant multiples (2022–2024 vs 2019–2021) among assignees with ≥5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide; class patent counts are subclass-specific.

#1 Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. 18x 49 → 871 company-wide · 115 in F02D
#2 Liebherr-components Deggendorf GMBH 14x 1 → 14 company-wide · 5 in F02D
#3 Rolls-Royce Solutions, GmbH 13x 0 → 13 company-wide · 16 in F02D
#4 American CNG, LLC 9.00x 0 → 9 company-wide · 8 in F02D
#5 Purem GmbH 8.33x 9 → 75 company-wide · 7 in F02D

F02D grants by year, peak 2019 (1,928)

US utility-patent grants per year in F02D, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 28% versus 2015–2019.

Ford Global

2,221
Toyota Jidosha

1,725
Gm Global Technology…

744
Hyundai Motor

659
Denso

583
Robert Bosch

437
Caterpillar

414
Cummins

413
Mazda Motor

402
Honda Motor

394
Kia Motors

369
Nissan Motor

336

What this shows Ford Global is the most active filer in F02D, holding 2,221 of the 16,949 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

View data table

Top patent holders in CPC subclass F02D
Rank	Company	Patents in F02D
#1	Ford Global Technologies, LLC	2,221
#2	Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha	1,725
#3	GM Global Technology Operations LLC	744
#4	Hyundai Motor Company	659
#5	Denso Corporation	583
#6	Robert Bosch GmbH	437
#7	Caterpillar Inc.	414
#8	Cummins Inc.	413
#9	Mazda Motor Corporation	402
#10	Honda Motor Co., Ltd.	394
#11	KIA Motors Corporation	369
#12	Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.	336
#13	Continental Automotive GMBH	295
#14	Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.	239
#15	Vitesco Technologies GMBH	187
#16	Tula eTechnology, Inc.	164
#17	Volvo Truck Corporation	141
#18	Isuzu Motors Limited	130
#19	FCA US LLC.	120
#20	Hitachi Astemo, Ltd.	115

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading F02D assignee, placed by how many patents it holds in this class (horizontal) against its company-wide average claims per patent (vertical) - a read on whether the class is led by broad-but-shallow filers or focused deep-claim players.

Top 14 F02D assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in F02D. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near F02D's 16,949-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for F02D (#111 of 670 by volume ; lead share 13.1%) - not the F02 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

H04J 16,888 F16L 16,791 B64C 17,186 C12Y 17,214

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B27G 13.1% G04B 13.0% E02F 13.3% A46D 12.8%

Questions about F02D

Which company holds the most patents in F02D?

Ford Global Technologies, LLC leads F02D with 2,221 patents (13.1% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 62% of class grants.

Which F02D assignees grew fastest recently?

Among assignees with ≥5 grants in F02D, Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (18x: 49 grants in 2019–2021 → 871 in 2022–2024) while holding 115 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.

How does F02D compare inside parent class F02?

Inside F02 (Combustion ENGINES; Hot-gas OR Combustion-product Engine Plants), F02D ranks #1 of 9 subclasses by grant volume and holds 23.1% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is F02C (16,237 grants).

What to do with this data

F02D in context - here's where to go next.

Ford Global Technologies, LLC leads F02D with 2,221 grants in this class. See full portfolio
F02D ranks #111 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
Inside parent class F02, the largest sibling subclass is F02C with 16,237 grants. Explore F02C

Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through 2026-05-15; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.

Methodology - F02D figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (16,949 grants in the tracked window).

Every figure on PlainPatent is rendered directly from USPTO source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on USPTO source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.